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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Farm Style Ingenuity

A week ago, we had trouble one morning with the phone and internet. Called the local phone company which is a rural Co-op. They sent a repair man out later that morning to see what he could find. He discovered a gopher mound near/over where the cable runs underground between the road and the house. Deducing that the gopher sharpened his teeth on the phone line, he decided we needed a new one.

The local phone Co-op is in the process of installing fiber optic cable here in our area of North Dakota, but in the way of these things, one company will dig in the underground cables, one company will have the contract to hook up the houses, and the local repair person will finish the installation. All this takes time. The underground stuff has been done, and in fact was done last fall, they haven't come around and hooked up the wires into the new box they installed on the side of the house, and the interior wiring hasn't been done yet either.

So I thought I would show you how we do things out here on the farm when you need an interim solution.

The box on the left is the original, the box on the right is for the fiber optic, as you can see the fiber optic cable is coiled on the ground. The wire you see coming out of the small box and heading up to the right is our jerry rigged phone line, I thought you would be interested in seeing how this runs....

out of the box, up to the right and twice around the living room window. Then to the left ...

across the front of the house and on to the left across the yard...

to the apricot tree, can you see it??.....

another view as it goes....

twice around the trunk of the tree.....

and on across the yard to the pine....

wrapped around the branch on the pine and passed the trunk...

and headed across the yard to.....

the clothes line....

through the eye bolts that hold my clothes lines up.....

then once again across the yard to the box elder...

Through the branches of the box elder, I drew the line in red so you could find it easier....

continuing on between the trunks of the box elder....

further across the yard to the corner fence post. The post is a corner of the cow pasture, and it is now getting closer to the ground....

around the fence post. we will have to get this up on top of the post so the cows don't get a hold of it. They like to lick and check things out, they are curious creatures so one of them is sure to take a bite....

I drew the line in red again, as you will not be able to see it in the grass as it goes down the driveway. That is farmguy in the tractor and corn planter on the road. He was planting some late corn after baling the old alfalfa field. We started a new alfalfa field last fall. .......

A close up of the end of the driveway, the dust cloud is from the tractor, anyway, when the phone line gets to the end of the drive, it heads to the right down the ditch to the phone hook up box further down the road.

And there you have it, the phone company doesn't want to take the time and expense to dig in a new phone cable when they would be replacing it soon anyway. So far we have had good phone and internet connection so I have no complaints, but I get tickled anytime I think of it. To me this is hilarious.

I have been tatting, but it is testing someones pattern so can't show you. I have also been working on the leaves for my Tishband. and I have a pattern swirling in my head I just have to get some time to deal with. Also I still want to tat the dragons, and I have 6 more doilies to get done before Christmas. I really need more tatting time.

he he Miranda, I guess I didn't make myself clear, sorry, this was done by the phone company repairman, not by us. But I know who he is and where he lives, 15 miles away in a town of about 500 people and if I remember correctly, grew up on a farm, so he has "farm sense"

Enjoyed seeing the Farm Style Ingenuity. There's a lot to be said for doing what needs to be done to get the job done. I grew up on a farm and things were not always done the "normal" way. Thanks for sharing. Karen in OR Oh, yes. If you find extra tatting time I'd like some too.

'Jury rigging refers to makeshift repairs or temporary contrivances, made with only the tools and materials that happen to be on hand. Originally a nautical term, on sailing ships a jury rig is a replacement mast and yards improvised in case of damage or loss of the original mast.’

jim·my (jm) n. pl. jim·miesA short crowbar with curved ends.tr.v. jim·mied, jim·my·ing, jim·miesTo pry (something) open with or as if with a jimmy: jimmy a door.

That's too funny that they actual is jury rig. Urbandictionary.com has a bunch of "jerry rig" definitions and "jimmy rig" definitions... but no jury rig. I guess that term got lost on my generation. :o)

"Green Acres" lives! LOL At least you don't have to shinny up the big pine tree to talk on the phone!

I'm tatting cherry blossoms and butterflies, and need to tat another of my Tat Day patterns, but I need more tatting time, too! It's been crazy-hectic here. I can't wait until September, when I can run away to Palmetto Tat Days!!

That's a very creative way to run your line... something my husband would truly appreciate! Now that school's out for the summer, I may be able to find time to start on the leaves for my Tischband. I look forward to seeing yours!

Unbelievable! As a city-gal who panics without pavement beneath my tootsies, I cannot even imagine putting up this cable! Seems so foreign and strange to me! Thank you for my morning smile! So interesting to imagine the different ways we all live together on this tiny planet.Fox : )

I love it. Lived in the country when growing up. This looks like something my dad would have done with my mother ready to kill him for doing it.Thanks for a great laugh. School is out here and had to take Great grandson with me shopping. And I really need a good laugh.

I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing post and photos, and also the comments! I can hear Bob Newhart doing a routine about this, interviewing the phone guy!: ( Chuckling, "So you say you're worried about the cows . . .?" )

I thought the crazy TV cable path that we have in the house was goofy, but your story takes the cake, as they say!

About Me

NATA #39 Ladytats has been my "name" online for over 12 years.
I am a 50+ wife, mother and grandmother. Married to a grain and livestock farmer. We have 7 children; 5 of whom are married and we have 10 grands.
I currently am the office manager for Dakota Steel Art.
I am active in my local parish and have been chosen to represent our area deanery at the diocesan level.
In Tatting the knots make sense.